Historical performance vs. 2010 (Ice Dance)

I came across two clips back in the 2001-2002 Olympic season where the performance were surprisingly comparable as far as the requirements and standards are concerned compared to the Ice Dance we know today in 2010. Both were historical performance of their time.

Bourne/Kraatz were the first team to break the European grip in Ice Dance and this skate marked the dramatic turnaround in their career and eventually led up to the IJS as we know today. This Free Dance contained surprisingly many comparable elements based on the 2010 standards, including sync. twizzles. They certainly paved the way for B/A, D/W, D/L and V/M. How would you rate this skate against the two best FD in 2010?

First of all, Anissina & Peizerat and Virtue & Moir's flamencos were both extremely good, obviously. I hadn't seen A & P's in a long time. Technically, I think that there is no doubt V & M are better. Their twizzles and edges look better, and their lifts look more difficult. If I would give A & P the edge in any area, it would be their interpretation/expression. I think that they might have interpreted the character of the dance a bit better than V & M, although V & M's interpretation was also good. If I was a judge and these programs were in the same competition, I would probably put V & M in first.

Ahhh, on to the free dances. This is difficult. I love Bourne & Kraatz's Michael Jackson FD. I think it's the best one they've ever done and it's my favourite program ever. It's more easily comparable with Davis & White's Phantom than Virtue and Moir's FD (whatever the song is, lol, I forget), because the styles are more similar between B & K and D & W in these particular programs: fast, a lot of footwork going on, and dramatic. V & M don't have as much footwork going on, but they somehow look smoother and the program looks more effortless, while you can tell that B & K and D & W are putting effort in and they are choppier in places. Although I prefer B & K's PERSONALLY, I think that V & M have the better program. I would give B & K the edge over D & W though - they look more into the performance, and I think they are slightly smoother. I noticed that D & W travelled on a spin, too.. never noticed that before when watching this skate. B & K really deserved an Olympic medal though, for this, if they skated it like this at the Olympics (I haven't seen the 2002 Olympic FDs in a long time, and I assume the one I just watched with this link was Worlds). I also think B & K deserved more World Championship wins too. They might be the most underrated team in ice dance history.. btw though, I don't think Riverdance was exactly underrated.. B & K's later programs are much better - like this MJ one.

Technically, I think that there is no doubt V & M are better. Their twizzles and edges look better, and their lifts look more difficult. If I would give A & P the edge in any area, it would be their interpretation/expression.

if you will look like this even junior teams like Shibutani&Shibutani (twizzle and lifts better than A&P) and Ilinykh&Katsalapov better than all the ice dance olympic champions. not just V&M.

Good post, Wallylutz.
Anyway my take is that the 2010 Olympic champions and silver medalists are clearly more crisp and snappier than either A/P or B/K. But I do agree that at the the time those moves were creative considering where ice dancing was at during that time. There's no doubt the standards expected today probably came out a few rematching of programs such as those.